


The Charm of Imperfection

by navaan



Series: Perfect - series [2]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bat Family, Batman: Reborn, DC Universe Big Bang, Developing Relationship, Dick Grayson is Batman, Dysfunctional Family, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, Friendship/Love, M/M, Meddling Friends, Robins (DCU), Romance, Shower Sex, Tim Drake is Red Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 02:29:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2491109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/navaan/pseuds/navaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dick and Tim are together now and try to work out this new thing between them. Of course, life is never just easy, with Jason out of prison and someone targeting criminals – and with just being Batman and dealing with the Batfamily and their issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Charm of Imperfection

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for [DC Universe big Bang 2014](http://dcu-bang.livejournal.com/). [**Link to accompanying fanwork master post**](http://ischa-posts.tumblr.com/post/100651488399/art-nsfw-people-are-naked-in-a-sexy-way-i) by creepylicious | [**Link to accompanying fanwork master post**]() by ragless (Coming soon)  
>  You can also read and comment on livejournal [here](http://navaan.livejournal.com/160087.html).

Batman was having one of _those_ nights. Dick was really not enjoying himself tonight, which of course wasn't the purpose of a night of patrolling in a city like this, but he usually found a way to make the best of things. Not tonight. There had been a gang shooting near the harbor and a bomb placed in a research facility at Gotham U and Dick had a feeling that the incident was part of a bigger case, that he'd better take a closer look at all the details of the moment he had time for it. It was lucky that so late at night the building had been empty for the most part and only few people had been close enough to be in any danger, but it had been reason enough for him to hurry from one crisis to the next in another part of town. Nights like these made him thankful for Damian's new Batmobile design and the ease of simply flying from one place to another.

“It had been too calm for too long,” Robin grumbled, a sulky look on his face. “We should have known it would happen all at once.”

“It was calm for three days,” he answered, his focus on navigating, “even for Gotham that's not all that long, Robin.” 

“Tell yourself that,” Robin answered, twisting his mouth and staring at him in an obnoxious way.

“I don't have to, kid,” he growled back. “I've been around for a while.”

“Yes, you're _old_. I get it.”

Dick wasn't even sure if Damian was joking, but decided that patrol was really not the right moment to try and figure out whether their newest Robin actually had a sense of humor or not. There were more pressing matters to attend to tonight. The Batmobile touched down in a dark alley and he could see Batgirl standing only a few feet away, watching their arrival calmly. Her mouth was set in a thin line and her posture was tense. Clearly she was on the job.

“You didn't tell me we're meeting the girl blunder,” Damian hissed.

“Behave,” he said roughly, adding after a moment: “Or you'll be grounded.” With Damian it was always better to spell things out as clearly as possible. Then he got out of the vehicle, out into the night, looking at Batgirl expectantly. Damian made an annoyed sound, but followed him without another word. It was quiet and there were no lights around, most of the houses around them abandoned or under reconstruction. This part of town had been up for re-development for years, but no actual plans had ever been set into motion, presumably because of investors pulling their money. In truth certain influential families had a vested interest in keeping this part of town quiet, frozen in a dead state and forgotten by the rest of the city. “Oracle said, you wanted us to look at something,” he said when he approached Stephanie.

“Yeah. I think... I'm not sure what I think, actually. Just thought you should have a look at it, before the authorities are trampling all over the place.” She turned, straightening herself and moved further into the darkness. He threw Robin another warning glance, before following her, careful to keep an eye on their surroundings.

He smelled the blood even before he saw the bodies, too accustomed to the smells of death and decay.

Stephanie stopped a little distance away from the bodies, lying in a puddle of their own slowly drying blood. The smell wasn't pleasant. Dick stepped closer, although there was no need to even ask what had killed them. He looked up to the roof of the closest building. “Thrown off that roof?” he asked.

“Checked the roof. Some signs of struggle, but nothing that gives away much.”

He stepped around the three bodies, two men and a woman. One of the men was wearing a business suit, the other casual street clothes and the woman was dressed in leather gear. He crouched down to get a better look.

“Pretty obvious what killed them,” Batgirl added, working her bottom lip with her teeth. “Don't know who they are. Haven't checked...”

He nodded before she could finish the sentence. “We should leave something for Gotham's Finest to do.”

She nodded and then looked over her shoulder at Robin, who was watching them silently, not stepping closer, but not turning away. When she focused her attention back on him, she said: “Drugs?”

“I've heard of some weapon trafficking in this part of town.”

“Another gang war?”

He stood up and shook his head. “I don't think so, but you never know. They spring up every other day.” 

Then Damian sniffed behind him and asked: “Todd?”

The question had been hanging above their heads since this whole thing had started, but Dick had been reluctant to just jump to conclusions, and suddenly the tension was leaving Stephanie's shoulders. She was probably glad that someone had finally voiced the thought and it hadn't been her.

“It's possible, of course,” Dick conceded. “But at this point we're not in a position to just assume. Lets do this thing where we look for clues and evidence first. I've heard it's the way to go. Detectives swear it works.” 

Damian straightened and moved towards them. He took criticism very personal. Dick reached for his grapple line to take the swinging shortcut to the top of the roof. When the hook made connection he turned slightly to Damian. “Robin, it's time for you to head home,” he said gruffly. “School tomorrow. If this turns out to be Jason, I'll need you to be rested and at my back.” He nodded into the direction of the Batmobile.

Damian frowned beneath the mask, his mouth twisting in an unhappy way. He was looking at Batgirl who smirked at him. So Dick turned his attention to her: “You come along.” Damian's frown deepened, but he nodded, for once just following along with his instructions.

He didn't turn around to look at the silhouette of Robin leaving, but swung himself up, hearing the telltale noise of Batgirl following his example.

She landed behind him on the roof a moment later, walking with him as he inspected what little evidence of a fight had been left behind. “So?” she asked, her voice suddenly less tense and more amused. “How is my ex? I hear the two of you have...”

“Really?” Dick interrupted. “This is a good moment for relationship talk?”

“Hey,” Stephanie said, holding her hands up in front of herself. “Don't go all Batman on me, eh... Batman.” He stared at her for a long moment then decided to steer the conversation into a different direction. But, of course, Stephanie Brown had just caught on to the important part of his sentence. “So there really _is_ a relationship I can pester you about? I knew it! Tim must be so happy. I want all the dirty details, or we could exchange some...”

He groaned, in a very dignified and suitably unamused, very Batman kind of way.

Bruce would have been so proud.

* * *

When he finally pealed himself out of the costume and made his way up to his big and silent apartment, he was exhausted. It was early morning, but dawn wasn't quite breaking yet. Maybe he could manage to fall asleep before the first rays of sunlight lighted up his living space.

He wasn't surprised to find the bed empty.

Tim hadn't been very forthcoming with information about his plans for today and Dick had known better than to ask. Red Robin was out doing his own thing and Dick remembered how that felt, building a new identity and trying out a hero life outside of the Bat's shadow. Only that this time around _he_ was the Bat. So he didn't think questions would be helping anybody. Tim would have to be ready before any talking happened, and then he'd come to him and tell him all on his own.

He had to hold on to that.

Tim was still convinced that Bruce was somewhere out there and could be found.

Dick wanted to really believe it, too, but still had a hard time to see any substantial evidence supporting the theory. But Tim wasn't crazy and over the last few days he'd seemed a lot happier and more stable than in the weeks before he'd left, so Dick was inclined to believe it wasn't simply denial driving him to find some evidence. So he followed his own instincts and just let him do whatever it was he thought he had to do on his own and waited.

And waited some more.

It hadn't even been a month yet since Tim had come back and they were only tentatively working their way towards each other and testing out the new boundaries of this relationship. It wasn't like either of them hadn't danced this dance before. Dick had been in love and in relationships and falling into stuff head over heels more than once and had always been in it with all his heart. And he'd had time to think about all of it, before Tim had come back to Gotham, so he was very sure where he stood. Just like always he was in it without reservations, in love and sure of what he wanted. But this was Tim and somehow this made things simpler and much more complicated at the same time.

Their flirting and banter since Tim's return had been outrageous and if any of their friends would have been around to see it, they would have probably thought they would rush into this as especially Dick was prone to do. Instead everything was developing slowly. Touching, kissing, flirting and then going their separate ways or fighting crime, Dick waking up alone more often then not.

But it had only been a while.

Taking it slow for once wasn't bad.

He could wait.

He crawled under his sheets, the exhaustion making itself known again.

It would have been nice to have someone to snuggle up to just about now, but he was too tired to even feel lonely, falling asleep nearly instantly.

He woke up, only a short while later, coming to instantly, trying to figure out what had woken him. Noises in the apartment, a figure sitting down on the bed beside him. Tim gave him a rueful smile in the darkness of his shuttered bedroom. He peeked at the clock at his bedside and guessed that it was already light outside. He held up the covers and Tim slipped in beside him, clad in sweatpants and a tank top just like him, feeling surprisingly cold and chilly. They were both tired, exhausted.

But Tim had come home and was clinging to him, getting warmer by the minute.

They fell asleep like this, Dick feeling comfortable and content.

* * *

Waking up together was something new. It wasn't like they'd never before slept in the same bed or had woken up together like this – even clinging to each other wasn't something that had never happened before -, but it had been a different kind of together then. Tim still looked tired and yawned, hiding his face in the pit of his arm, then blinking owlishly at Dick, who just smiled, pleased and tired and unwilling to get up and break the moment. Lazy moments like these were something to be treasured.

Soft noises could be heard from the direction of the kitchen.

“Alfred is always on time,” he commented.

Tim shrugged. “It's not like we'd expect anything else.”

They chuckled, sharing a quiet moment of happiness, Tim watching him the whole time as if he wanted to commit all this to memory. Dick propped himself up on one side to get a better look at his face; there were still soft circles of darkness under his eyes, but he looked good. How had he never allowed himself to look at the growing boy and think about the sweetness of his mouth. He couldn't remember what he'd been thinking then, not now that he knew how perfect it was to kiss that mouth.

He leaned down to get another taste and Tim sighed, moaned, into the kiss, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him down against him, like he'd been waiting for Dick to do this all along. Their tongues met in an open mouthed kiss and for a moment they struggled, not sure who was going to take the lead with this. And wasn't that just _hot_? He was hard before Tim even started moving against him, desperately aching hard. Tim made a surprised noise against his mouth and bucked against him. Dick gasped and broke the kiss.

“God, Tim,” he groaned.

“I want you,” Tim whispered, pulling him into another kiss, stroking his sides. Then he pulled away and leaned his forehead against Dick's own, never stopping the stroking motions, but holding them both still otherwise. “But maybe not while Alfred is in the next room.” That thought worked like an ice bucked. As Tim pulled away Dick didn't fight it, although he was hot and really wanted some friction, wanted to move his hips.

They stayed like that, still lying close to each other and touching, and listened to the sounds coming from the kitchen, waiting for their breathing to slow down again, before they moved to lie more comfortably on their sides. Tim rested his head on his chest and they were both happy to just dose like that for a while.

Dick slipped into the kitchen half an hour later, not surprised at all to find breakfast for two ready on the table. “Master Damian is at school,” Alfred informed him. “He should be back and ready for training in a few hours.”

“He's actually going to stay in school today, right? He's not going to slink off again on his own and get in trouble?” Dick asked, because he was never quite sure he could trust his instincts with Damian.

“I think he might have learned his lesson,” Alfred said cryptically.

“What happened last time?” Tim asked, before sitting down, still looking ruffled and tired, but more awake than a few minutes ago.

“He was grounded. No patrol. And it was a painful affair for everyone involved,” Dick answered grumbling, taking a sip of coffee. “Don't want a repeat. Not soon. Preferably not ever.”

Tim gave him a weak smile. He still wasn't comfortable around Damian, and in true Damian fashion the little devil took every opportunity to mess with Tim that presented itself. Dick supposed things could be better, but he was also pretty sure that things could be much, much worse and let the two of them hash it out between themselves most of the time without interfering, with Alfred watching from the sidelines with a stern expression. He probably should interfere more often, instead of leaving it all to Alfred though.

But he didn't want to create reasons to fight with Tim while things were still so new and a little uncertain.

Much easier to just keep out of the line of fire.

He had reason enough to get into dangerous territory everyday.

* * *

Tim was already looking at the open cases when Dick stepped up to him, already wearing the full costume, but not yet the cowl. The police had by now identified the victims of yesterday's triple homicide, but they had already known their names. The only obvious connection between them was their involvement with drugs, but there had been no signs of warring gangs fighting over their turfs involved with drugs recently, so that still left some more unanswered questions. Better keep a close eye on the gang violence and the families.

Tim frowned at the pictures of the crime scene, then leaned back in the seat, tense and serious, so different from the relaxed and happy Tim he'd woken up to.

“Is it Jason?” he asked, not beating around the bush, and looked up at him from his sitting position.

“Could be,” Dick said and came to stand behind Tim's seat. “Still no sign of him. Not actually his style, though. He usually goes after more obvious killers. Arms dealers, hit men... you know. And he'd go for the big show. Draw us all in from the beginning and make it about us failing to stop crime in the city, about us being failures, period.”

“Not if what he's planning is something he wants to carry out without us interfering before the big finale.”

Dick nodded. It wasn't like Tim wasn't having a point there. Jason, just like the two of them, had learned from the best, so if he wanted to execute a plan he'd choose the best way to do it. And Jason was also holding grudges. So if Jason was out and laying low, then this might not be because he wanted to stay out of sight, but because he was planning his next move. “You might be right, but don't underestimate the power of his grudge against us. Especially now that Bruce is gone, he'll want us to be put in our place.”

“How likely is it that he would run to Ra's?” Tim asked. He was focused now and he was biting his lips just a little in the way he did when he was working through a mystery. Tim had always been a natural detective. He' had to work on the physicality, the acrobatics involved in being Robin, but the crime solving had been something he'd always just been good at.

And it was so good to have him here now.

It wasn't like Dick wasn't just as proficient at working alone, but he liked working with a partner he could trust, had been a team player for a long time for reason.

He gave Tim's question a moment of thought, before answering: “Ra's might want to reach out to him now, but to be honest he thinks _you_ are the next great detective in this family. And Jason won't thank him for the way his return from the dead turned out. I don't think we have to fear a demonical team up coming at us from that direction.”

“My grandfather will not have any interest in getting involved with Todd's misguided crusade,” Damian said sagely, which was always good hint that he was out to wind you up. He had just appeared in their little headquarter, wearing his training suit and looking at Dick expectantly. “He is a mad man,” he added while holding his gaze.

“And whose fault is that?” Tim muttered. There was always some strain in him when they were discussing Jason – or Damian's relations. 

As Alfred wasn't anywhere close it was probably time for Dick to do something to stop this fight from breaking out before it had even started.

“Not mine,” Damian returned, now with a scathing undertone. “He's a problem my father created for himself a long time ago.”

“Just like you'll be Dick's problem one day?” Tim asked back sharply.

Damian's mouth twisted into an angry expression, but Dick was faster and put a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention. “Tim!” he said to make it clear he was warning both of them.

Tim looked up at him, his eyes were still blazing with anger, but the moment their eyes met, all of that was gone. He looked like he was sorry, but his brow furrowed and he said firmly: “I'm not going to apologize.”

He sighed and looked at Damian. “At one point or another the two of you will have to learn to get along, you know?”

Damian met his eyes and he just shook his head, his angry, stubborn expression actually reminded Dick of Bruce a little. It was eerie. 

Tim just rolled his eyes. “You just hope that your life will get easier then.”

It wasn't like that wasn't the truth. “As someone who has spent some considerable time leading the Teen Titans, I thought you'd emphasize.” _That_ finally served to make Tim look guilty. Which hadn't been the point he had wanted to make at all. Perhaps it was time to find a good way to address this. He did not want Tim to find a good excuse to run from him and Gotham City again, just to avoid accepting Damian into their lives. For Dick, Tim was a very important part of his life, had been before they had started the relationships, but he would not pretend that Damian wasn't part of his life too. He was responsible for Damian and he would not just turn his back on him.

“So, if you're finished quipping at each other then maybe we ca get ready?”

“The only one who quips here, is you,” Damian told him and turned up his nose at him. With another kid his age it might have been cute.

“Yes, for _Batman_ , you surely talk a lot,” Tim informed him. 

“I'm sorry,” Dick said with his best impression of fake hurt, “not everybody can be dark and brooding all the time. And with the two of you here, someone has to take the job of lightening the mood or we'll all be stuck here and become...”

“Bats?” Tim asked, with an innocent expression. Damian was throwing a furtive glance in Tim's direction, as if he wanted to gauge what his “adversary” was really thinking about Dick's mocking words. Tim was only smiling at him crookedly. “Don't pretend that you can't go all dark and brooding. I've seen it happen, Batman.”

“Hm, so you're saying what I actually need is another person on the team to do the job? Maybe I should call Stephanie? She's fun.”

Tim's eyes narrowed, not dangerously, but like he was looking for a better strategy. “You looking for trouble, Dick? Because I know I can give you trouble.”

He smirked, rising up to the challenge.

Tim just smirked back.

Damian groaned. “I knew it. Can't you keep _this_ out of the job?” He gestured between them. “It's a disgrace.”

It should have been impossible for Tim's smirk to become more pronounced, but Dick would have sworn it did exactly that. Damian was, of course too dignified to just throw up his hands and stomp away, but it wasn't by much. Somewhere in that slight frame of a lethal fighter was a ten year old boy. Sometimes he peeked out and wanted to be just that boy.

“So are you coming with us tonight?” he asked Tim. He knew it was time to go out, to follow the leads before the trail ran cold, and to make sure the darker elements of this city remembered that Batman was still around and to be reckoned with. 

Hesitation never boded well. Tim met his eyes for the briefest of moments and Dick knew that he'd only met his gaze to _prove_ that he wasn't avoiding something, although he was in fact avoiding something. “I have some leads to follow,” he said, firmly. He was a much better actor when he didn't have to look him in the eye.

“Leads?” Dick asked, lightly. They both knew what Tim was investigating, had never stopped investigating since their mentor had died. “You're not giving up then?”

Stiffly, he shook his head. “I can't. I'm sorry, Dick. I just can't.”

“You believe you're right,” Dick concluded and once more was reminded of Bruce and his pigheaded stubbornness when it came to doing what he thought was the only one the room he could ever be right. The frustrating thing was that Bruce had been right very often, not always, no, no, not always. And in this room now, with Bruce gone, Dick just knew that the person with the most talent to be a detective of that special kind that Bruce had been, was without a question Tim. A boy who had figured out Batman and Robin long before he'd been old enough to drive.

“I'm following a lead,” Tim said, surly now.

“I'm not saying you shouldn't,” Dick told him. He had realized that Tim was either on to something or he needed to find out for himself that there was nothing to his lingering suspicion - _hope_ \- that somewhere out there Bruce was alive. Whatever Dick or Alfred or anybody believed, Tim would only be convinced by whatever he found at the end of his journey. He wasn't delusional, he wasn't going crazy with grief. They wouldn't be were they were now if that were the case. So Dick had decided to make the final leap of faith and trust his lover.

If he wanted to follow up on this, he wouldn't stand in his way. He'd not be the control freak in this relationship if he could help it.

Damian made a growling noise in the back of his throat, before he said: “You should give up now, Drake. There's nothing to find.”

Tim looked at him coldly. “I don't care what you think, Damian. I'm not giving up.”

“You're delusional!” Damian shouted. Dick tried to catch his attention, but all his anger was directed at Tim now and he was ignoring anything else.

But Tim seemed perfectly unfazed by his outburst. “I'm not asking you to believe me or to help,” he said, and Dick was silently grateful that he remained calm. When both of them lost their temper, that was when he was in trouble.

“I've had to accept my father's death, Drake,” Damian grit out angrily. “It's time that you stop fooling yourself and accept it too.” Finally his patience had worn thin and he stomped away angrily. 

“Damian,” Dick called after him.

Tim wasn't looking, staring at the screen in front of himself instead. “It's what you think too.”

“I've told you before that I wouldn't have found it in myself to step up and take over if I've doubted even for a moment that Bruce was dead. But that doesn't mean I don't trust you and your judgment, Tim. So, maybe Bruce is dead, but if something makes you doubt it, then you'll have to figure out exactly what it is.”

They both knew that it wasn't always that easy, but Tim nodded. “I can't let this go.”

“I'm not asking you to.”

He sighed. “You want me and Damian to get along.”

“That is not a question, is it? You're smart enough to know what would make me happy, Timmy.”

“It's not going to happen, you know?”

It was his turn to sigh. “I've spent my whole life around wonderful and very stubborn people. Do you think I would have manged if I did not have even a single stubborn bone in my body myself?”

“If you're implying that I missed that you are just as stubborn as your predecessor, then no, there was no way to miss that. I knew that from the beginning. Your constant headbutting was a dead give away.” Tim looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Same is true for you. You're a stubborn little shit sometimes – and I say that as a person in love, who loves the stubbornness along with everything else,” he said with a soft smile to take the string out of his words and leaned over to press a soft kiss to Tim's lips. When he was about to pull away again, Tim's hand came up to settle on his shoulder and keep him in place.

So apparently he'd successfully avoided this turning into another fight with Tim at this point, which he had to admit was a relief. They hadn't really argued since Tim came back, and he enjoyed that status quo. He knew he could be hot headed and stubborn, just like Tim claimed he was, and he knew that in the past he'd had relationships with people who could be just as stubborn and focused on what they thought was right. Kory and Barbara had been like that and that had led to some epic disagreements. But with Tim, so far, there had been non of that. And as all his other relationships had ended in some way or other, he really wanted to give this the chance to develop into a stable and lasting and maybe even harmonious relationship, as they had very rarely been in conflict with each other since they'd met year's ago.

Now he only needed to help his temperamental Robin to calm down again, and not because he doubted Damian's ability to remain focused on the job tonight, but because he knew he wanted the people in his life to get along when they weren't wearing masks, too.

When he finally pulled away Tim didn't smile, but his expression was relaxed.

“Don't come home too late,” Dick told him before stepping away, putting on his mask as he was going.

“Early,” Tim quipped.

“Come home as early as you like, darling,” he returned. “But I fear I will have a long night, too.”

Damian, he noted, was already waiting for him in the Batmobile, cross-armed and surly looking. He kept from smiling. Some things would never change, whoever was Batman and whoever was Robin.

* * *

“Things look worse than I expected,” Oracle commented in his ear as he swung himself back up the roof. “The mob is hiring muscle.”

It didn't come as surprise. “What kind of muscle?” he asked back. 

“The ex-military type, the desperate type and the simply lethal type.”

“So they are trying to get ready for war here? That's nice. It's not like Gotham didn't have enough problems.” He didn't actually want to hear the answer to his own question. Word on the street had it that the Red Hood was back in town and that he was targeting anyone from drug dealers to gang bosses, not only the big fish anymore but everybody involved in criminal activity of any kind. Word was out that he had already killed a bent cop and a weapon's trader and some people involved with getting kids into drugs.

Barbara had been gathering all the information she could get her nimble fingers on, breaking into databases and security systems. It seemed the mob was scared, but actual leads were scarce.

And to Dick non of this really felt like Jason was involved. He knew that even the crazed Jason, who thought that killing was the only way to finally stop crime in this city, that he was the only one who was ready to do what had to be done to clean these streets, operated differently. He didn't just go out and kill indiscriminately. After all he had been taught by a master strategist, by a detective who had taught them all the value of gathering information, of knowing your enemy before setting things into motion. Jason would start from the top down. He understood how gangs worked, how the mafia operated. He knew who controlled the black markets and the cash flows that financed the criminal elements in Gotham. He knew who to take out to make the whole rotten system come crashing down.

If he was about to make a move he would take this fight directly to one of the bosses and make sure the crime rings we're without their leaders, before he pushed them into gang wars and watched them do the work for him.

So, if this wasn't Jason, who else would have an interest in targeting criminal elements out on the street?

He didn't need to voice his thoughts to Barbara, who was already working away at gathering information, trying to get a lead on who exactly it was they were looking for. But he knew that there wouldn't be a short list of suspects until they had more clues. How many people in Gotham had a motive to blame criminals of one ilk or another for harming their families, their own lives? They needed to find the connection or they would never be able to narrow things down.

“Stephanie tells me that Tim is still brooding,” Barbara said. Her voice was the computer generated sexless machine voice she preferred to use as Oracle, but he could still somehow tell by experience, that she was trying to sound light and unobtrusive. That, of course, meant that she was either curious or worried.

“He's not brooding,” he said shortly. 

“Then he's still....”

“Obsessed with proving his own theory. It reminds me a bit of a detective we all knew very well,” he said, trying not to snap at her. It was just uncomfortable to discuss Tim with an ex-girlfriend. An ex-girlfriend he'd nearly married if she hadn't ended things between them. 

“You're not worried?” Barbara asked, this time sounding much sharper.

“Look,” Dick said. “He says he is following a lead and I've decided not to get in his way. He needs to do this and we all know he's capable, so let him find his own answers. He's not keeping to himself anymore. He's...” He stopped to examine his own thoughts about this, trying to ascertain that he wasn't just projecting, seeing what he wanted to see. “He's not brooding anymore. Not when he's with me.”

“I see,” Barbara answered and he could swear that even over the comm and with her masking her voice he could hear a _grin_ in her voice.

At this stage Dick saw no reason to continue the conversation, making his way back to the car waiting in the dark alley around the corner. He was sure she'd gone back to work.

Only after a very long pause did Barbara speak again. “So things between you are going well?”

“I'm on patrol,” he growled. 

“Yes, Batman, I know you're not the kind to have private conversations on the job. Oh wait. That was the _other_ Batman. You, as far as I can remember, had all your important relationship talks _on the job_. Don't tell me you've grown out of talking. It's one of the things you do all the time. You like talking. You're a talker.”

He smirked, knowing that nobody could see him at the moment, but that it probably looked like a very sinister kind of Batman smirk. The best way to wind Barbara up, was to not play along when she was trying to wind _you_ up.

The line went quiet, but Dick knew this wasn't something Babs would let go. Things hadn't worked out between them, but for years they had been very important to each other and there was no way of her not worrying about him. He knew he felt the same when it came to her. “Dick,” she said, which she knew would get his attention. Names were only used, even when it was a secure line, when it was very important. “ _Are_ things going well? You're not avoiding to talk about it, because something is wrong?”

He finally reached the car; today it was actually the “old” Batmobile, Bruce's car, not the Damian designed new and flying version. When he had settled into the driver's seat he leaned back and said: “We're happy.”

There was something that sounded like a sigh of relief on the other end of the line. “I'm glad to hear it. We never right out talk abut things when they're going wrong and we don't when they're going fine... And I was a little surprised about how nothing happened for so long and then you suddenly...”

“You didn't think that I was just... going along with this for him?” 

“No,” she answered right away. “But you're not always good with understanding yourself. And this looked like a jumping in without thinking thing.”

“Have you said that to Alfred?” 

“Oh God, no. Why would I do that? I don't want to look like the jealous ex-girlfriend.”

“As if he'd ever think that.” Dick was sure Alfred knew them all too well to jump to silly conclusions like that.

“Maybe he wouldn't,” Barbara conceded. “Maybe I'd just feel like one. Or maybe I still feel awkward when I talk about romance to Alfred of all people. So what would he have told me?”

“That there was a lot of thinking and realizing involved _before_ the jumping in part.”

“So this is not sudden?”

He leaned back and stared into the dark street. “Yes and no. How it happened maybe. But it was a long time coming.”

“Good,” she said. “You sound sure enough for both of you.”

“We're working things out. Give us time. We've got this.”

“Good,” she said again. “I only want both of you to be happy.”

“We are. I lie awake and wait for him at night. And he comes home,” he had no idea if she'd understand what he was trying to say here, had no idea how to better explain what was going on. 

“So, sounds like a relationship, dear. One in our profession. Someone always lies awake at night and worries,” she joked.

He laughed.

* * *

Everyone was taking an interest in their affairs and Dick wasn't sure how he was supposed to feel about that. But he wasn't actually worried until Wally called him one evening.

“Please, don't ask how we're doing,” he said, before Wally could even ask the question. “I'm not sure why everyone is so interested in what's going on here all of a sudden.”

To his endless relief Wally chuckled and said: “Calm down, short pants. Everyone is taking an interest, because we love you guys. And we're all friends and Titans and heroes, and we like to gossip. Not everyday that we can gossip about two former Robins finally getting it on.”

He laughed. “You know that makes it sound so incredibly wrong and messed up, that I'm sure I should just end this call right now.”

“You sound happy,” Wally said.

“You just made me laugh, Wally,” he reminded him. “I wouldn't base any assumptions on that.”

“No, really,” Wally said. “You're in a bantering mood. That's good. Last time we talked you sounded tired and a bit uncertain. Have you settled into the second generation thing?”

It was the first time since he and Tim had started their relationship that someone had asked about how he was coping with being Batman and it was refreshing to for once not being asked about how their love life was going. “You coped,” he said, smartly. “I'm coping. And it's easier if you have a working team and someone to come home to. Well, most nights at least. Sometimes I have someone I can wait for to come home to me. That's also nice.”

Wally chuckled. “The blight of dating another hero, huh? You should know the drill by now.”

He rolled his eyes, but smiled. “I do. But it's different this time. I can't really explain it. Kory and I we were on the same team and it was usually me going off with Bruce and then with Babs it was an altogether different kind of complicated we came back to time and time again, together and constantly leaving or living in different cities and, well, it was complicated.”

“So, you're saying, it's not complicated now?”

“Strange thought, huh?” He actually took a moment to think this through. “Our lives are still the same kind of complicated, but so far, yes, I think it's actually coming together without any complications. We're not from vastly different cultures, or you know, planets, we've know each other and worked with each other for a long time, but we're for once both in the same place and I think we want the same thing.”

There was a sudden silence on the other end of the line and Dick frowned, unsure if Wally was still there, when he heard a soft knock as if something had been falling and then a sudden wooshing sound that made him fall backwards onto the sofa in surprise as Wally appeared beside him, going from a blur to solid human form in an instant and smiling like a maniac.

“Dickie-boy, you're so smitten! That's so cute!” he said. “Now I really want to know all about it.”

He blinked at his friend, who sat down beside him as if he'd been there all this time.

“Did you just run here from Central City just to gossip some more?”

“Of course, man! You're my best friend and if this lasts I want to make sure I'm going to be best man.” He was still smiling, not flushed or giving any other indication of the fact that he'd just run here on superspeed. “I have stakes in this.”

“You do? Is there a betting pool that I don't know about? You graduate to Batman and then no Titan tells you anything anymore? That it?”

Wally had the grace to look a little chagrined at this. “No betting pool. Yet. I swear I'll tell you as soon as there is one, because there's going to be one somewhere down the line.”

Dick narrowed his eyes. “What's wrong then?”

“Nothing's wrong. I'm just happy that you're happy and making sure you're happy happy.”

“You do remember who I grew up with? You were never good at keeping secrets.”

This time Wally threw himself back, slouching on the sofa. “Donna asked me if I had heard from you and I hadn't so I called...”

“Donna?”

“ApparentlyTimtoldCassiethatyouweren'tsleepingwitheachotherandIwantedtomakesureeverythingisfineinRobindateland,” Wally said, much too fast.

“Come again?” he asked with a frown. “I don't have super fast hearing.”

He must have growled it, because Wally froze and frowned back at him. “God, don't do that, Dick. You sound all Batman when you do that. It's scary.”

“I do that sometimes, because you know, I _am_ Batman, guy-who-runs-fast-in-a-red-costume,” he said and stuck out his tongue, going back to fooling around, to make sure Wally knew he wasn't actually angry. He was just surprised that Tim would disclose that kind of personal information to Cassie and set off this kind of chain reaction. “So, did she pester Tim? Because Stephanie and Barbara and _you_ have all been asking me for details and it's getting a bit uncomfortable.”

“Sorry,” Wally said with a comical expression, that actually didn't look all that sorry. “Not sure, but I think both Kon and Cassie wanted to know what was going on with Tim... So is it true then?”

“True?”

“That you're not...?” he waved his hands around in a telling gesture.

“Oh god,” Dick said and buried his face in his hands. “This is more embarrassing than Bruce and Alfred telling me about the birds and the bees, Wally. You're not my Dad, can we quit the interrogation? We're both adults and we do know what we're doing.”

Wally broke down laughing.

Dick wasn't sue he felt like joining in, not exactly embarrassed, more annoyed that everyone was making this relationship their business, and unnecessarily complicating it along the way.

“Sorry,” Wally said again and wiped at his eyes. Apparently he'd laughed hard enough that a few tears had escaped. “I'm sorry, Dick. I was really worried that something was wrong, but nothing is wrong, really, right? It's just you're not usually one for not just jumping into a relationship head first and without holding back, and I guess Donna was overreacting...”

He had heard that part before and rolled his eyes. “Look,” Dick said. “I'm used to you obnoxious, nosy people and I love you, but please tell Donna that I'll come to you if there is a problem. Me and Tim we need to figure this out in our own time and at our own pace. It's not like we don't want to have sex, it's more like when we have time for each other we both fall asleep because we're exhausted or there are people around...”

“So you're still figuring this out?” Wally asked tentatively.

“Not the being in love and wanting to be together part. But the how we are going to do this part and manage to be partners in the field and in a relationship. It's still so early and new.”

“Aww,” Walls said. “That's so sweet short pants. You really are so cute when you're in love. And Tim must be so happy. He's been head over heels for you for so long.”

“That's a bit scary,” Dick admitted. 

“You're not afraid that you're not living up to expectations?”

He shrugged. “Don't think so. It's more that I don't yet know where to go from here.”

“That is so strange,” Wally told him and threw a cushion at him, that he caught with both hands before it connected with his head. “You're Batman. Batman always has a plan. I know that, because I used to work with a Robin who insisted we always needed to have a plan. Remember him? He could be kind of obnoxious and know-it-all, bit of an idiot really...”

He hit Wally over the head with the cushion before he could finish the sentence, Wally graciously allowing it to happen without using his powers to evade, both of them laughing again like the boys they once had been.

The door opened, but Dick didn't look up, expecting Alfred, returning to make sure he would get some food into himself before the evening. Only when Wally stopped laughing, did he look up to see Tim stand inside the door, hair freshly washed, and clad in a clean red sweater and jeans. His face was blank as he surveyed the scene and then settled on Wally. “If Cassie sent you, I'm going to kill her,” he stated calmly.

“Donna sent him,” Dick supplied, leaving the rest unsaid so Tim could draw his own very obvious conclusions. 

He groaned, one hand coming up to hide his face, that was suddenly going beet red. “Why is everybody so nosy?” he asked and stepped towards Dick, who got up from the sofa to greet him with a kiss.

“We're all still silly teenagers at heart,” Wally explained cheerfully, taping his knee with a finger, _fast_. “So I'll tell Donna there's no trouble in paradise, then?”

Dick glared at him over his shoulder. 

A second later all that remained of Wally's presence was the lingering sound of laughter and he was gone as fast as he'd come. 

Tim wound his arms around Dick, hiding his face against his chest.

Dick put his own arms around Tim's hips and held him close. “Do I want to ask?” 

“Stephanie is sending me messages, saying that you're not telling her anything, so she needs me to tell her _everything_ about us. What did you say?”

“That we're very happy,” he lied, because he couldn't remember actually answering any of her questions. “Cassie?” he prompted.

“Wanted to know how far we've gone... and I said we're taking it slow. And apparently everyone thinks that this automatically means no sex and that of course means something is wrong. I wasn't even talking about sex, just... I just wanted her to stop asking questions.”

“Oh, don't worry.” Dick said. “That's probably because they're used to me rushing into things. At least that's what everybody has been telling me. I don't think I do, actually... I'm just in it or I'm not.”

Tim's grip on him suddenly grew tighter. “Why aren't you rushing into things with me?” he asked. His tone didn't give away much, but the fact that he had posed the question at all was telling Dick all he needed to know. “I wanted you to rush into things with me since I was in my early teens, but...” He broke off and didn't look up to meet Dick's gaze, pursing his lips. “You never wanted to.”

“Tim,” he started, fully aware that this was something they had to clear up before it became a problem, something that both of them would always come back to wonder about. “When I'm in love I'm in love. No question about it. But maybe this time I don't just want to rush in and do things the way I've done them before. Things _are_ different and I don't want them to go wrong. I've known you for a long time. You've been important for me for a long time. You've waited so long for things to grow between us, I don't think we _need_ to rush anything. We can take our time and built something that lasts.”

“Oh,” said Tim, sounding like Dick had a moment before, probably only now looking at it this way. “So you're not holding back?”

“Are you?” Tim shook his head and Dick shrugged in answer.

“Oh,” Tim said again. “This is scary. We're just too similar – and too different. Can we really make this work, Dick?”

“If we can't who can?” he asked back, keeping his tone teasing and light and suddenly Tim was chuckling.

“Right,” he said. 

“But you know what I'd really like to do?” Dick asked, because in all of the trouble and with the investigations of the last few days he felt that something important had been forgotten in this relationship.

“Hmm?” Tim was still leaning against him and he couldn't see his face.

“I think we should maybe try and spend some time together outside of costumes or snuggling up in the bedroom. Just being together.”

Tim finally looked up and smiled. “That we can do.”

Dick took the time to call Alfred to covertly let him know that he and Tim were having something like date night. Sure that they wouldn't be interrupted, he ordered them pizza and let Tim choose a movie. They snuggled up on the sofa and joked around, kissing and touching and sometimes just resting against each other, snarking about the terrible on-screen police work and joking around. 

He'd missed their easy friendship a little, but was glad to finally realize that it was still there underneath their new closeness, beneath the new expressions of tenderness, and as strong as it had always been, just something more now.

They went out on patrol together without even talking about it, without Tim sneaking off to his own investigation. He didn't even grumble when Damian joined them, even when little Robin glared at him all through patrol.

 _Harmony_ , Dick thought, _The batfamily version of harmony, at least._ He knew it wouldn't last, but he felt that they were growing to be a good little family, or at least a working team.

And on top of it they help the police stop a hostage situation without anybody getting hurt.

It was a good night. Exactly the kind of night he needed.

And although it was early morning by the time they got back, they took the time to take a shower, Tim following without even asking, perhaps feeling a new kind of confidence when it came to the things he wanted from him now after their talk and behaving like a normal couple for a few hours at least. He undressed, unhurriedly, smiling a small smile as he caught Dick watching him and then stepped after him under the spray of water.

“Nice evening,” he said casually, as he leaned up to kiss him, the warm water plastering Tim's hair to his face. It shouldn't be this sexy, but it was.

“Yeah,” Dick said, “nice date. I wish work wouldn't always interfere.”

“Next time your office calls, you tell them you're busy with your new hot boyfriend.”

Chuckling, he pulled Tim closer, their skin already slippery with water, touching his chest and letting his arms glide down his sides. They were both lithe and fit, muscles slim but defined, both of them covered in scars from various fights and injuries. He marveled at how smooth and perfect Tim's skin was even with the marks of old pain. Tim's own hand came up to touch an old gunshot wound on his shoulder, then kissed it. 

But Dick, who had quite enough of taking it slow now, had his own ideas of where this night, maybe even the morning was supposed to go. He cupped Tim's face up to draw him into a kiss, his tongue impatiently pushing against his lips. Tim responded immediately, the hardening length pushing against his thigh proof that he already had his full attention. They moved together, kissing, touching and pushing. Tim ended up leaning against the wall, before Dick pulled away, biting his lower lip before parting and then, never breaking eye contact, slid to his knees. There was a low and surprised moan, coming from the back of Tim's throat, all the invitation Dick needed to lean forward to sloppily mouth at Tim's already hard cock.

Tim forced himself to freeze, but as Dick peeked up at Tim's face he could see that his eyes had closed and his head was thrown back, hands forming into fists at his sides. He appreciated control, had learned control from a young age, how important it was sometimes to keep yourself in check and wait for the right moment, appreciated it in a lover. As he leaned forward to led the hard length slide in his mouth slowly, he patted Tim's thigh affectionately.

He'd been meaning to do that for a while, but somehow in all the mess that was their respective lives they had managed to never end up in the bathroom together since they'd become lovers until now. It was certainly time to give Tim some incentive to be home more often.

“God,” Tim moaned, a hand coming down to tangle in his hair. “I've been dreaming of this.”

There was no way to answer or even chuckle around the cock in his mouth, so he contented himself with humming, wringing another desperate moan from his lover.

“Oh,” Tim breathed and started moving, finally unable to control himself. It was like a little victory, sexy and unexpectedly wanton. No time anymore to take things slow or hold back. He pushed his hands up, griping Tim's hips hard, allowing both of them the fast pace they needed.

He was painfully hard himself just from this, getting more aroused by the minute, when Tim started to make low, desperate noises, when he started to say his name like a sexy low prayer, when he came undone under his ministrations, thrashing against the tiles and moaning loudly. 

He reached for Dick when he got back to his feet nimbly, pulled him down for a kiss, reached for his still prominent erection, but Dick, returning the kiss with all the pent up fire he was feeling coursing through his body, caught his hand at the wrist. “Let's take it to bed,” he whispered.

They stumbled through their clean up perfunctorily, dried each other in a haste and stumbled into the bedroom still half-wet.

Tim dropped his towel in the doorway to his room and took a condom package from the nightstand, dropping it on the bed, before flopping down beside it. Dick's arousal had ebbed away a little by now, but looking down at this unmistakable invitation was enough to kindle the fire. Unashamedly eager and with all the speed of a trained athlete he was on the bed, picking up where they'd let off.

* * *

“You're not going to sulk, because Red Robin is off on his own again,” Damian said, snidely.

“Don't overstep your boundaries, Robin,” he said. “I'm still the adult here.”

“Debatable,” Damian said and smirked.

“Very funny, little troll,” Dick said.

They were flying through the dark alleys of one of Gotham's seedier parts with their new Batmobile and surveying the area. Finally they had a real lead. And while Tim was off on his own again Dick and Damian were following the trail of what he was still thinking of as the Red Hood impostor. 

“Batman,” Oracle said, as the little monitor in front of him suddenly turned green and showed her mask avatar. “Batgirl is reporting some activity close to your position. Seems like it's our guy. He's wearing a red mask.”

“Sounds about right,” Damian muttered.

“We're on out way,” he said and changed course, following the map Oracle was providing them with. “Let's hope it's not Jason.”

Damian pursed his lips as if to say he disagreed with that notion, but he didn't actually say anything.

They flew over the area, spotting Batgirl crouched on a rooftop and beneath a group of three masked mrn, one of them wearing a red hooded mask. It was immediately obvious to Dick that this was really somebody else and not Jason at all. But they were holding two kids at gun point, screaming at them, so his own path was clear. The younger of the two kids looked no older than maybe 15 and was crying. 

Dick motioned for Damian to make his way outside and join Batgirl on the roof. The boy followed his silent command with a nod and used a grapple line to get into position. Dick entered the commands necessary to make their flying transport auto-pilot itself into a conspicuous spot and wait for more commands, then he swung himself outside, landing on a rooftop opposite from the place where Damian and Stephanie were lying in wait.

“You should have thought about that before you joined a gang,” one of the men was screaming. “Nobody asked my daughter if she wanted to go on living. She's dead now. Killed by scum like you.”

“Didn't kill no one,” the older boy stated and looked at his attackers defiantly. 

Dick tried to get a better look. There was a fourth man hiding in the shadows, also wearing a mask and carrying a rifle. And something in the shadows on the other side was moving. He didn't like that, but when one of the men was forcing the boys to kneel, turning the street below into the scene of an impending execution he knew he couldn't wait. With a swoop and deliberately spreading the cape to present a bigger target he jumped down right into the middle of the group, knocked one of the masked thugs out of the way, knocking away the gun held to the head of one of the captives and pushed one of the kids behind himself to shield them.

A gun came up and a shot was fired, but it missed both him and the kids.

“You're as much to blame as anybody,” the man with the red mask growled. “If you did your job right, there wouldn't be any of this scum walking the streets. Masked freak, like the rest of them.”

From the shadows more people appeared, two of them holding dogs on a tight leash, growling and ready to strike. 

He hit the rifle away that appeared in his vision and used the edge of his cape to hit another attacker in the face.

Behind him he heard one of the kids scream and the next thing he knew was that Batgirl had joined the fight, Robin right at her heals. He made sure to stay in front of the boys when the dogs were released and immediately attacking. One was attacking his arm the other was going right for the younger kid, who apparently had been hit, bleeding from one shoulder. 

The guy with the red mask was aiming a gun at his head. “Ready to die, freak?” he asked and Dick was calculating how to move fast enough, with a dog holding his arm in a death grip, teeth now only just penetrating the suit enough to be painful. He made ready to lurch out of the way, when another shadow fell from the rooftops, grasping the man with the red mask and with one practiced motion knocked the man down, leading his fall and crashing his head into the pavement, leaving him unconscious.

“Nobody takes my name,” Jason said. “Too much of that going around,” he added looking at Dick, with a disdainful purse of the lips. He wasn't wearing the hooded mask, just a small red one that looked like a Robin mask and was otherwise clad in street cloths. “Nobody likes impostors.”

“Nobody likes killers, either,” another voice said from the shadows and Red Robin appeared, knocking the second dog away, before it could reach the hurt kid. It crashed into the wall with a loud crack, and Damian visibly winced, but right at this very moment Dick couldn't pity the beast. 

With a swift kick of his own he dislodged the other dog from his arm, bleeding now and feeling the pain of the open wounds. The dog made a pitifully noise before retreating.

“Look at that one impostor grown up,” Jason said with a sneer and then looked over at Damian. “But it seems they spring up wherever we go, huh?” Then he stared at Dick again hard. “From Robin to Batman. Is that how it goes?”

“From Robin to killer,” Tim said, coldly. “That's certainly not how it's supposed to go.”

“See, see, the little replacement wants a fight.”

Their fight wasn't over yet, as the remaining men were just now recovering from the shock and realizing what had transpired right in front of their eyes. They were out for blood, strengthened by their superior numbers, too angry, too far gone to be scared by Batman.

“Stop it,” Dick growled warningly.

“Look at you, _Batman_ ,” Jason sneered. “All in charge now, daddy's golden boy.”

Stephanie jumped out of the way as a man tried to grab her and knocked him out with a nasty high kick. This seemed to finally break the spell and the first man turned around to run. But Robin knocked him out before he could get far.

Meanwhile Jason was staring at Tim, who was finally coming to stand beside Dick, looking him over as if he'd been badly hurt. “You're all pathetic,” he announced.

“You're nothing but a murderer,” Damian said, with so much venom in his voice that it surprised even Dick. “My father's biggest failure.”

Jason whirled around and moved toward him, but Dick was faster, grabbed him by the shoulder. Jason turned mid move to hit him, deliberately hitting his hurt arm. But Tim was there to knock Jason down, before he could do serious harm.

“We can help you, Jason,” Dick offered.

“With what? You fail at being Batman, little bird. Whatever Batman thought about you, the truth is you'll never be made of the right mettle.”

He stared at Tim hard again. “And what would Daddy think of his golden boy sleeping with my little replacement. Do you think he'd approve?”

Tim suddenly smirked, a dangerous and challenging smile. “Maybe we'll find out soon,” he said.

Both Dick and Damian stiffened. Jason just stared at them hard, unmoving. Then he turned his back on them and turned away: “You're all pathetic,” he repeated.

“Thanks for not killing tonight,” Dick called after him. “Thanks for stepping in.”

His lover stiffened beside him, but Jason froze mid step. “Didn't do it for you.”

“Thank you anyway,” Dick said and watched him go.

His parting shot was: “You're an idiot.”

“We should bring him down,” Tim said, “not let him go.”

“For once he's right,” Damian growled. “He's dangerous.”

Stephanie stepped up to the fallen man on the pavement, but was watching the two scared boys finally scrambling away. “Keep out of trouble, you two,” she called after them. “Or you'll meet someone like that again one day,” she gestured into the direction Jason had vanished into. Then she looked at Dick's arm. “Looks painful.”

“No kidding,” he ground out. 

“I'm not going to hit you in plain sight, Batman,” Tim told him. “But next time don't use your body as shield, please.”

Damian was watching as Tim was fussing over him. Something was on his mind, but he remained silent, while they secured the unconscious criminals. When they were finished he focused on Tim, hesitating, and asked: “What did you mean maybe we'd find out what father thought of this?”

Tim seemed unfazed by the question. “I think I have hard evidence this time,” he said.

Dick froze. “For...?”

He nodded. 

Suddenly the pain in his arm wasn't the most important thing anymore. Tim thought he could prove that Bruce was still alive. He didn't seem frantic or desperate, not insecure.

The sudden realization made him dizzy.

Bruce might really be alive.

* * *

Alfred tended to his arm. Damian was sitting across from him, watching the process silently. Tim was sitting in another chair, looking at him sternly.

“Why do I feel that although I'm Batman,” Dick asked, “I'm the one who is going to be chastised tonight?”

“Because you're smart?” Tim asked back, unsmiling.

“Aww, come on. There isn't much you can do about big dogs trained to behave like big nasty dogs. Things like that happen.”

Tim just kept staring sternly.

“Stop sitting there and staring at me like that,” Dick said and looked at Alfred for help. “Tell him, it makes him look like Bruce, and that is utterly scary and uncanny. And an utterly uncomfortable train of thoughts, that.”

“He does not look like my father,” Damian said indignantly.

“It's not about family resemblance,” Alfred said. “It's the posture.”

“He still doesn't look anything like father,” Damian insisted.

“Jealous?” Tim asked him.

Damian visibly bit his lip and Dick had the urge to ask Tim to step away from this fight. The boy had really wanted to get to know his father and had been denied the chance – and now maybe there would be a chance still. Who knew?

Tim got up to walk up to him and Alfred. “We should have taken Jason in.”

“We might have to at one point.”

“You're just sentimental, because you think he helped you,” Damian grumbled. “You're naive.”

“He means, you're stupid like that.”

“Thank you, Tim. I hadn't gathered that.”

Tim gave him a half smile. 

“That's why he needs someone competent to have his back,” Damian explained.

“Right,” Tim said and patted Dick's shoulder. “Good, you have me then.”

Damian's face turned dark. “I'm Robin,” he grumbled.

“And you're doing a good job of it,” Alfred assured him.

“I'm certainly better than Drake ever was.”

Dick rolled his eyes. “I'm the original Robin, guys. You're both just replacements.”

“So Todd is the original impostor,” Damian concluded, his lips curving up in smile that made him think more of a wolf that had just killed his dinner than a cat that got the cream.

“We're both very different from the Robin you were,” Tim added calmly.

“ _I_ 'm very different from the Robin I once was,” he pointed out and Tim kissed his cheek. 

“You're also a very different Batman from the one we're used to, so you need different partners.” He smiled and Dick was about to point out that not so long ago that had been something they'd been arguing about.

“That's why he has me,” Damian said before Dick could say anything and looked at Tim darkly.

“Now that I think about it, you're both like Bruce. That's why this works so well,” Dick said cheerfully, hoping to diffuse the tension before he'd have another argument on his hands.

“Damian is not like Bruce,” Tim said and earned himself another angry look from the boy.

“Well, you and Damian can fight it out if you want. Although it should be something that proves who of you is more like Bruce...” Tim gave him a glowering, threatening look and Dick answered with one of his brightest smiles, because if that look didn't prove his point than he didn't know what would. “Yeah, that's a start, Timmy. Very Bruce like. But Damian is pretty good at this part, too. So you'll have to do better.” 

“Shut up!” Tim _growled_ , making Dick laugh with glee.

“Afraid of the competition?” Damian asked from the door. Dick was a little proud of him, recognizing the nearly imperceptible note of teasing in his words. Little Bat was learning all about fun and joking and winding up people in a non-lethal way. And wasn't that quite the revelation?

“Yeah, Timmy. You're not afraid of competition? If it would make you feel better I could fight Jason for the title of most pleasant former Robin and I'd totally not be afraid of the competition.”

“Maybe you could fight him for the title of Robin who died most painfully? Just give it a second or two.”

Damian had the audacity to actually grin gleefully at that. At something _Tim_ had said; a _joke __Tim_ had made at Dick's expense. Was the world coming to an end or was Damian actually becoming part of the family here? He raised an eyebrow at the boy and said: “And here I thought I was your favorite person in this household.”__

__Tim's head snapped up and startled he said: “But you are...”_ _

__“He was talking to me,” Damian said with a hint of smugness._ _

__“Maybe,” Dick said and grinned, “I was talking to the both of you.”_ _

__“Don't let it get to your head, Grayson,” Damian sneered, but it still sounded gleeful. “Drake isn't that important a conquest.”_ _

__“That's because I'm not a conquest at all.”_ _

__Alfred finally allowed Dick to get up and just looked at him and then over at Tim. He didn't need to say anything to let them know he was proud of them. Dick had wanted to ask for sometime why he had never said anything to him about Tim's feelings, but if he was true to himself he already knew the answer. It had not been Alfred's secret to tell and Dick, as much a son of this house as Tim had been even before his adoption, had his own life to lead. Realizing he was returning Tim's feelings had been a process that only Dick himself could have started._ _

__Although admittedly he had this air-headed friend, who tended to do everything at an incredibly fast pace, who had helped a little bit._ _

__He really needed to thank Wally for that at some point. Properly thank him._ _

__“It's time for bed, Master Damian,” Alfred informed the youngest member of their family and motioned to the stairs. “It's a school day.”_ _

__Damian huffed and hissed: “I'm not a child,” he said, but obediently trudged off._ _

__“Everyone staying in the Tower then?” he asked and watched Alfred gather his medical supplies._ _

__“It seems impractical to take Master Damian back to the manor at this time of – morning.” He picked up a bloodied rag and carried it away, following Damian. “It would probably be advisable for you to rest now.” He looked at Tim instead of Dick when he said it, who nodded in total agreement and was probably taking responsibility for him now._ _

__It was annoying._ _

__And also sweet._ _

__“Goodnight, Alfred, we won't be long. I promise,” Dick told him._ _

__The man nodded before he left them alone._ _

__“Hello,” Dick said softly. Tim was still mostly in costume and leaning against a wall, watching him, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, as if he was planning to lecture him. So much like Bruce, so grown up when it counted._ _

__“Hi,” he said. “You're not light headed because of the pain killers, are you?”_ _

__“Pain killers? Because of this?” he gestured to his bandages. “Don't be silly. It's not worth mentioning. I'm light headed, because it's early in the morning and I'm all alone with my awesome knight in shiny armor, who came to my aid when I needed it.” He grinned._ _

__“You're silly,” Tim informed him. “ _Must_ be the pain.” Then he looked away, eyes turning up to the ceiling as if he was contemplating something. “It's entirely impossible that you're just a silly flirt after a night like this. Although, wait... No, it's you we're talking about.”_ _

__Dick smiled even wider. “Hi,” he said again, waiting for Tim to look back at him and meet his shining eyes._ _

__This time he was smirking a little. “Hi there,” he said. “I think it's time to take you to bed.”_ _

__“I like the sound of that,” he said._ _

__“To sleep,” Tim clarified sternly._ _

__“As long as you're there, it sounds perfect,” he said._ _

__Tim's eyes took on a soft expression and he silently held out his hand, waiting for him to take it._ _

____

* * *

He woke up in bed, painfully hard, and with Tim straddling him and gloriously naked and flushed.

“Hi,” Tim said and smiled at him, probably going for seductive, but instead ending up looking a little sheepish.

It didn't really matter to Dick, who had to admit, that waking to enthusiastic, naked Tim on top of him in the morning might just be his new favorite thing. “Hi,” he got out, only barely suppressing a moan. 

Tim leaned forward, bringing them closer together, reaching forward to grasp his wrists and press them into the mattress beside his head, reminding him how much strength was hidden in Tim's slight, athletic frame. Yes, he liked enthusiastic Tim, he decided, as his lover started moving grinding them together, giving him just enough delicious friction to make it perfect and unbearable all at the same time. He didn't remember closing his eyes, but when he looked up Tim was watching his face intently, not leaning down enough to kiss, but licking his lips in an unconscious gesture.

It was enough to make Dick decide that this wasn't going anywhere near fast enough for his taste, twisting one arm free and grasping Tim's bottom to push them hard against each other. Tim wasn't putting up any resistance at this point, slid against his body without protest, molding against him pliantly, but never stopping his now slightly desperate rocking. Dick let him set the pace, meeting him thrust for delicious thrust, groaning when Tim nipped at his collarbone. He threw his head back, feeling waves of pleasure run through him.

Not enough.

This time he used the hold he had on Tim to role them over, pressing him down, coming to lie between his thighs that immediately came up to encircle him, invitingly. This Time it was Tim who made a low noise of pleasure in the back of his throat and then hissed, _commanded_ : “Don't stop moving, oh god, don't stop, Dick.”

Tim was hard, painfully hard against him and writhed now with every touch of their bodies. Dick was close himself, so close, could feel the white, hot delirium of orgasm building up, could hear Tim moan and beg, then shout as if in surprise, reaching up to grasp at him, to pull him down for a kiss.

They didn't last long after that, coming to lie against each other, panting and sweating and stroking each other.

“I think I want to be there to wake you every morning,” Tim said, watching his face very intently again, as if he was thinking about something.

“You could move in,” he said, before he even had time to think about it. It wasn't like they weren't sharing living space anyway.

Tim's eyes widened a little. Someone who didn't know him very well would probably not even notice the slight change. “It wouldn't mean I wouldn't go off on my own”, he said.

“I know that,” Dick said, inwardly holding his breath. When had things gotten so complicated that he expected Tim to run from something he'd probably been waiting for?

“Okay,” he said then. “It's not like I don't end up back here, most nights when I'm in the city.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, relieved.

“I'm keeping the apartments, though.”

“Plural, of course,” he commented, amused and filing that away as another point on his “just like Bruce” list. He stroked Tim's sweat slick hair, nearly drifting back to sleep, listening to his lovers soft breathing.

“Are you going to help me?” Tim asked.

“Moving?” It took a moment for his brain to catch up with the meaning behind the question. “Oh, finding Bruce. Yes,” he agreed readily. “I want to see all the evidence you have gathered, all the leads that make you so sure he's out there somewhere, but yes. Let's look at this together.”

Tim nodded, staring up again, as if he was thinking.

“What's wrong?”

“What's he going to say?”

This time it was crystal clear to Dick what he meant. “Look, we're both adults. He'll lecture us about not making out on the job, he'll lecture us about not letting it get into the way of doing our job. And I have no idea what he's going to think. But first he has to be back, and then we can worry about making him approve of everything that happened since he's been gone. If we're lucky he's going to be busy criticizing the way I've run this thing and he won't even notice we're together.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. He won't notice the way I stare at your ass all the time.”

“Apparently a lot of people do that. Not so unusual.”

Tim let his head fall back into the pillow and rolled to his side. “Detective,” he said.

“We do have the ultimate secret weapon in our arsenal, dear: Alfred already approves.”

A non-commital noise was his only answer.

Finally deciding on what he thought was behind Tim's strange mood, he said:“Don't listen to the things Jason has to say when he's on a rampage. He's very good at finding the right things to say to inflict hurt.”

“No kidding,” he said. “But why did he come at all?”

Dick nodded. He had wondered about that, too? To help them? To get revenge on the thugs? To get information? A little of all three? “Who knows what's going on with Jason,” he said and shrugged, listening to the noises coming from the kitchen. He knew at the moment he didn't care very much at all.

Tim slowly untangled himself from his arms and got out of bed, walking naked into the direction of the bathroom.

He still wasn't sure he could truly believe that Bruce wasn't dead and gone forever, but for the first time and even without seeing the hard evidence he was feeling that it was a certain possibility. And he wasn't nervous about that, just looking forward to it. They'd done their best in his absence, but the sliver of hope that they could all just be together again like they'd been before, everyone doing what they were best at, was _nice_. Damian would get a father. Tim would have one less reason to brood...

But wherever their next steps would take them, whether Bruce would come back or not, he loved how far they'd come.

And whatever waited around the next corner, they'd deal with it together.


End file.
